Daddy, Sir (Dirty Daddies 2024 Anthology #6)

Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Daniel

He kept pace with Sadie’s quick strides and followed her to a red crew-cab pickup, resisting the urge to help her when she boosted herself into the front seat.

“I just have some paperwork for you to fill out, and I’ll need to see a driver’s license or ID card.” She handed him a clipboard and pen, then jumped down. “Payday is every Friday, and you can go to the urgent care clinic for a drug test.”

“Sounds good.” He filled out the forms and returned the clipboard along with his driver’s license, which showed his mother’s address.

“Great.” She strode to the bed and opened a toolbox, then tossed him a hard hat, a vest, and a pair of work gloves. “We’ll get you set up for health insurance if you stick around for a full month., but you’ll be covered for workers’ comp starting today. Sound fair?”

“I don’t need insurance.” When she arched a brow, he hesitated, then added, “I’ve actually got another job lined up with the airport, but I can give you two weeks.”

“If you make it three, I’ll give you a bonus,” she countered. “And if you already had a drug screen, we can skip it.”

“Just did it yesterday, but I’m afraid I can’t give you the extra week.”

“Fair enough. When we finish here, we’re scheduled to renovate The Majestic on old Route 66. I’d appreciate it if you could give us a few days there.”

“Sure. No problem.” He frowned and cocked his head. “Wait. Didn’t that place shut down years ago?”

“Yeah. Do you remember it?”

He smiled fondly and nodded. “My mom used to take my sister and me there for breakfast on the weekends. It was cool.”

“They had the best milkshakes too.” She started walking back to the construction site. “It’s been purchased by some ex-military guys who want to turn it into a resort.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah. I think they’re planning to call it Club Apocalypse or something.” She hurried to an open supply trailer and grabbed a bucket, a trowel, and a stucco tool. “They call themselves the Four Horsemen, so I guess it fits.”

“Excuse me?” Daniel stuck a finger in his ear, wondering if he’d heard her right. “Mark, Ryan, Jake, and Sean?”

She looked at him curiously, letting him see that her eyes were light amber brown. “You know them?”

“I haven’t seen them in years, but yes.”

“Huh.” A pink flush rose in her face, darkening the freckles sprayed across her cheekbones. “Well, in the interest of full disclosure, they’re opening a BDSM resort. We’re only doing the basics to get them up to code and ready for interiors, but I feel like you should know that before you agree to the work.”

He took the bucket and tools she passed him. “Just out of curiosity, what do you think about it?”

She shrugged and pulled a bag of what looked like cement from the trailer. “It’s all good with me. I make it a point not to yuck anyone’s yum. Heck, maybe I’ll visit after they open. They tell me Jake is a pretty good cook and he’s reopening the diner.”

“That’s the rumor I heard. People used to say he made MRE rations into five-star meals.”

“Sounds like you know them pretty well.” She led him to a garden hose and showed him how to mix the pale pink cement. “Did you serve together?”

“No. We had… mutual interests.”

“Ah.” She blushed again, then seemed to shake herself.

Interesting. Maybe she wasn’t as nonchalant about the idea of a bondage club as she pretended to be. Instead of daydreaming about what she’d look like strapped to a spanking bench, he focused on the job he’d signed on for.

Not that he was complaining. He’d wanted to do the work on his own house and relished the chance to learn from a professional. Hell, he didn’t even need the paycheck.

For a moment, he considered telling her the truth, but didn’t want her to treat him like he was her boss or some bullshit like that. Then again, he didn’t really want her to treat him like an employee either.

“Okay, then. Anyway, this is what we’re using to patch the stucco covering the original adobe.”

“Got it.” He glanced up at several darker red sections that made his house look like it had a rash and pointed. “Like those spots?”

“Right.” She filled a trowel and smoothed it over a section, then textured it with the stucco tool. “Sorry. This is tedious and messy, but until we can get you some construction skills, I need you here.”

“Oh, I get it,” he said, deciding to tease her as he repeated her demonstration until he could do it to her satisfaction. “Put the newbie on the crap jobs.”

She smiled faintly, “Well, yeah, but it’s not just busy work. I’ll be helping once I get that retaining wall finished.”

“What’s the hurry?” he asked.

“The owner was deployed overseas and is coming home any day.” She gave him a brilliant grin and waved as she backed toward the retaining wall. “I want this place to be perfect when he gets here.”

“Sounds good. I like the way you think.”

“Yeah, a lot of work, but worth it.” She stopped and hurried back to him, then looked around to make sure they were alone. “I forgot to ask, and don’t be insulted because I ask all my employees the same thing. Do you have a place to sleep tonight?”

“Yeah, I’m good.”

“Great.” She visibly relaxed. “How about food and gas money? You good for those too?”

“All taken care of.” He spread more cement on the adobe and feathered it into the original stucco like she showed him. “Thanks for asking.”

“Great. I mean, good.” She smiled again, showing straight, white teeth. “Anyway, I’ll be laying brick for most of the rest of the morning. Holler if you have any questions, and if you need a lunch, there’s a cooler full of sandwiches and water in the supply trailer.”

Aw, hell. Sadie probably didn’t have a shy bone in her gorgeous body, but damned if she wasn’t ticking all his boxes. Those questions came from experience, meaning at least a few of the people on her crew had been or still were unhoused.

Meaning, that for all her ball—and wall—busting when she fired Jim, Sadie had a sweet, squishy inside and a great big heart.

Sadie

She kept one eye on her new hire and the other on Beatriz while they rebuilt the retaining wall the way it should have been done in the first place. On a good note, there were enough broken bricks left from her little temper tantrum to create the elegant curves and insets that made the original so beautiful. Jolene Miller, her landscape architect friend, would be around to put the finishing touches on the neglected gardens once the construction was complete.

Of course, Jolene was running behind at The Majestic. There was a good reason she and Sadie were friends. Neither of them liked half-assing jobs, and Jolene had almost fifteen acres of junk and invasive plants to clean up before she could return the property to its former glory.

If they had time after their contracted work on the motel, maybe her crew could help, but she doubted it would fit into their already packed schedule.

“He’s doing good,” Beatriz said as she carefully placed bricks along the curved section of the wall. “Not making no trouble or nothing, like Jim the asshole. Way easier on the eyes too.”

“That’s the truth.” She forced her eyes away from Daniel’s very fine backside and laid down another layer of mortar.

Laughing, Beatriz set the last few bricks to tie the new wall into what was left of the original. “We should take him out for pizza and welcome him to the family. He’s almost done with the west side of the house already.”

“Nah.” She scraped her trowel on the edge of the bucket of mortar. “You bitches will scare him off.”

“Are you kidding?” Beatriz chuckled and shook her head. “We got that fine piece of eye candy who actually does a job without complaining. We’re not going to scare him off.”

“Anyway,” Sadie said, changing the subject, “what do you think about bricklaying?”

“I like it.” Beatriz wiped her hands on a rag. “It’s like playing with Legos and mud at the same time.”

“Cool. We’ll see about hooking you up with some classes.”

“After I get my GED.” Grimacing, Beatriz added, “I don’t have the bandwidth for it right now.”

“Fair enough.” Sadie squeezed her shoulder. “I’m going to grab a sandwich and help Daniel with the stucco.”

By the end of the day, she and Daniel had managed to get all but a few spots on the south side of the house finished, and the place didn’t look like it had the pox anymore. The kitchen cabinets were in, and her paint crew had the interior primed and ready for the morning.

“Good work,” she said, pitching her voice to carry to her entire crew. “You’ve all gone above and beyond to get this house ready for her owner, and I know he’s going to be thrilled when he finally gets home. As a thank you, I’m treating everyone to pizza at Luigi’s.”

When the cheers died down, she added, “And we’re welcoming Daniel, our temporary crew member, to the team.”

“Temporary?” Lourdes asked.

“Yeah. Sadly, we only get to keep him for two weeks.”

“Still a good excuse for a party,” Jasmine, her tiling specialist, said. “Betting pool is open for how long it takes for Sadie to get arrested.”

“Hey! That only happened one time!”

“What did you get arrested for?” Daniel asked. His reddish hair gleamed like fire in the light of the setting sun, and her knees went weak when he grinned.

For fuck’s sake. She was acting like a teenager when a cute boy smiled at her. Did she have no chill?

“Drunk and disorderly,” Lourdes said. “But she wasn’t drunk. She tried to steal a motorcycle cop’s bike and challenged him to a drag race.”

Sadie sighed and rolled her eyes. “I swear, it was just that one time. Who knew cops have no sense of humor?”

“Everyone,” several women sang out, making Daniel laugh.

“Bitches. I was a guest at the Navajo County Hilton for the weekend, but they dropped the charges.” She huffed irritably when everyone kept laughing, then turned to Daniel. “Do you need a ride?”

“Nope. I’m good. I’ll meet you there.”

It was stupid to be disappointed, but she seriously wanted to spend more time with the enigmatic Daniel. He just…

There was just something about him, and she couldn’t have explained it if she tried. Maybe it was how polite he was to everyone, or it could have been his work ethic. Or even the way he held doors for her crew and pitched in to help them without being asked.

No, it wasn’t that. She expected manners and helpfulness from everyone she hired. Nobody got a pass because she liked looking at them.

It was the twist of mystery he brought to life when he talked about the men who bought The Majestic. It was like he knew exactly what would be going on in there when it reopened.

She rolled her eyes at the fanciful thoughts, but the less sensible part of her wanted to learn more.